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I interact with dozens of people daily. I tell jokes, I listen to their feelings, I applaud their conquests, I mourn their losses. On the internet. You think

I interact with dozens of people daily. I tell jokes, I listen to their feelings, I applaud their conquests, I mourn their losses. On the internet. You think any of those people are going to miss me if I'm gone. Kinda sad, really.

ericabiz 10y ago
I would miss you! I like your Facebook updates and silly jokes and pictures of your family. I always read your stuff there. I know we don't get to see each other in person much, but know that there are people out there who care!
- DanielBMarkham 10y ago
  Ha! Thank you! Didn't mean that to sound so gloomy, just wanted to point out that reading text from a person is also a form of isolation for both people. There are a lot of people that I've interacted with over the years that I haven't heard from in a long time. Our only contact was email or texting. Their text number stopped working a long time ago, and emailing them results in no response at all. This is not a situation where folks are angry at each other, just slowly drifting apart. Are they alive or dead? Beats me.
Morgawr 10y ago
As somebody who's had a dear internet friend die, let me tell you that yes, we'd miss you if you're gone! I was (and still am) part of a tight community of people on IRC and one day we realized a guy in our group hadn't said anything for almost a month. He'd always been the quiet type of person who sometimes would go for a few days or even a week without saying anything, but it was really weird for us. These are all people I've been interacting with for years every day, we do know a lot about each other (although to varying degrees). We knew about this guy's name and some circumstantial social network presence, so we started to investigate and we eventually found out he had passed. We all mourned him, and to this day still I regret the fact that it took us a month to realize he wasn't with us anymore (we initially thought he had gone on vacation, since it was summer). In a few months it's going to be the 2nd anniversary of his death and we plan to write up something within our community to remember him, just like last year.
- DanielBMarkham 10y ago
  Yes. Exactly this. If you're communicating with somebody on a regular basis in person, and they die? You mourn, you send flowers. Hell, you might even go to the funeral home, even if it was in another town. If it's online? You can go weeks or months and be clueless. And then when you do find out, you feel like you were robbed of something. Something important.
  - Verdex 10y ago
    I had a real life friend die when I was away at college. Apparently everyone else knew even though they were away at college as well. Came back one week too late and found out I had missed the funeral by a few days. I think the problem isn't whether or not your friendship is online, but whether or not it's advertised sufficiently to the next of kin and other relevant social networks.

ericabiz 10y ago

I would miss you! I like your Facebook updates and silly jokes and pictures of your family. I always read your stuff there. I know we don't get to see each other in person much, but know that there are people out there who care!

DanielBMarkham 10y ago
Ha! Thank you! Didn't mean that to sound so gloomy, just wanted to point out that reading text from a person is also a form of isolation for both people. There are a lot of people that I've interacted with over the years that I haven't heard from in a long time. Our only contact was email or texting. Their text number stopped working a long time ago, and emailing them results in no response at all. This is not a situation where folks are angry at each other, just slowly drifting apart. Are they alive or dead? Beats me.

Morgawr 10y ago

As somebody who's had a dear internet friend die, let me tell you that yes, we'd miss you if you're gone! I was (and still am) part of a tight community of people on IRC and one day we realized a guy in our group hadn't said anything for almost a month. He'd always been the quiet type of person who sometimes would go for a few days or even a week without saying anything, but it was really weird for us. These are all people I've been interacting with for years every day, we do know a lot about each other (although to varying degrees). We knew about this guy's name and some circumstantial social network presence, so we started to investigate and we eventually found out he had passed. We all mourned him, and to this day still I regret the fact that it took us a month to realize he wasn't with us anymore (we initially thought he had gone on vacation, since it was summer). In a few months it's going to be the 2nd anniversary of his death and we plan to write up something within our community to remember him, just like last year.

DanielBMarkham 10y ago
Yes. Exactly this. If you're communicating with somebody on a regular basis in person, and they die? You mourn, you send flowers. Hell, you might even go to the funeral home, even if it was in another town. If it's online? You can go weeks or months and be clueless. And then when you do find out, you feel like you were robbed of something. Something important.
- Verdex 10y ago
  I had a real life friend die when I was away at college. Apparently everyone else knew even though they were away at college as well. Came back one week too late and found out I had missed the funeral by a few days. I think the problem isn't whether or not your friendship is online, but whether or not it's advertised sufficiently to the next of kin and other relevant social networks.